Kicking Horse

The helicopter people must be pissed. Just a few years ago, skiers would drop three or four large, easy, to get to a place like this. Then that bastard gondola opened up. And even in the heart of British Columbia's champagne-choked Kootenay Rockies--at the core of some of the steepest, sweetest, most wide-open skiing terrain on the planet--paying for a helicopter didn't make much sense anymore. Soon, with the construction of new lodges in the last couple years, Kicking Horse began to blossom as a resort, and no wonder. Just two and a half hours west of Calgary, it has it all: the fifth-highest vertical in North America (4,133 thigh-decimating feet from peak to village); mile-wide powder pastures (the three massive bowls boast some of the best snow anywhere); long, gut-taunting ridges serrated with chutes (seventy at last count); and just enough gentle runs to keep the bunnies happy. And the best part? Because it's relatively undiscovered, it's still insanely cheap. Five nights' lodging and four lift tickets will run you $500. That wouldn't buy you cocoa at Steamboat. kickinghorseresort.com.